Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
This was not the right time for the Flyers to host the Stars. Dallas is a really good team and they’re on a hot streak. As soon as this game got underway the Stars took control of it.
Matt Dumba entered the Flyers zone with the puck. He attempted a pass that was blocked by Jamie Drysdale but the puck came right back to his stick. Nick Seeler stepped in to stay with Dumba. Seeler had the shaft of his stick on the ice to cover the pass. Dumba would have to thread the pass through the eye of a needle to get it past Seeler and behind Drysdale to Mavrik Bourque who was driving to the net. That is exactly what he did and Bourque accepted the pass and smacked it home 1:45 into the game.
That goal set the tone for the rest of the night. Dallas played with skill and patience and the Flyers were just not having a great night. They weren’t getting the bounces but they were not creating many opportunities either. Dallas struck again at 9:38 of the 1st period to make it 2-0. It was a pretty passing play that had Drysdale and Seeler collapsing into their own slot. Dadonov to Roope Hintz for the tap in.
The Stars were playing with a totally different timing than the Flyers. The Flyers were rushing and making mistakes. Their shots were going wide, their passes were not connecting. Dallas was taking their time and almost waiting for the Flyers to get out of their way.
Samuel Ersson made a huge pad save on Dadonov as Egor Zamula was sliding across the ice to cover the pass. The Flyers had a totally ineffective power-play with 2:52 remaining in the period. They were having trouble breaking out of their own zone with the man advantage. The crowd booed as the penalty expired and then repeated the refrain when the horn went off to end the period.
Early in the 2nd period Colin Blackwell received a pass at the side of the Flyers net. Fortunately he totally panicked with the puck and gave Ersson time to get in better position. Ersson got a glove on his shot and also stopped the rebound.
Dallas expanded their lead to 3-0 when Wyatt Johnston fired a puck over a sliding Rasmus Ristolainen to beat Ersson glove side 8:41 into the 2nd period.
Ristolainen played a solid game tonight. Instead of backing off and waiting to see what the Stars were up to he was going at them, playing the body, and setting boundaries. Play the man not the puck.
There were a few nice individual efforts from the Flyers in the second but nothing strung together. Konecny hit a post, Poehling had a nice end to end rush, but chances were one and done.
Morgan Frost scored the Flyers only goal of the night 6:47 into the final period. Konecny fired a shot that went off the back dasher and popped out to Frost who put it in short side off the blocker of Casey DeSmith.
Frost’s goal gave the Flyers some hope but in the grand scheme of things it had little effect. There was no anticipation of a mounting comeback. Dallas was pretty much doing whatever they had their mind set on and they looked smooth and confident doing so.
The Flyers pulled their goalie with more than four minutes left. Miro Heiskanen fired the puck into the empty net from the slot all the way down in the Dallas zone.
This did not look like the same Flyers team that did so well in the past two games against the Maple Leafs. Hopefully they can put this inconsistent effort behind them quickly.
Extra credit: Tonight the Flyers organization payed tribute to late team owner Ed Snider. Snider was the founding father of the organization and his legacy lives on in the fine work of his charity foundation. The Snider hockey program brings the great game of hockey and all of its life lessons to so many kids in the area. The program offers a mix of sport, education, and scholarship that helps form character and offers a positive life experience that gives these kids a great head start. This gift to the area truly is an amazing legacy.
